Sony a6400 review

Introduction

Sony's a6400 is a compact 24MP mirrorless interchangeable lens camera with an APS-C sensor that will serve plenty of photographers from family documentarians to pro shooters looking for a lightweight second body. The big news is that it has a new processor based on that used in Sony's sports-shooting flagship a9 which enables 'Real-Time Tracking' autofocus, which is one of the most effective autofocus implementations we've yet seen. It's also among the easiest to use, once you've gotten it set up.

Key specifications:

24MP APS-C sensor

425-pt phase detection AF system with Real-Time Tracking

Tilting screen, 180° up, 90° down

2.36M-dot electronic viewfinder

New Bionz X processor

ISO range from 100-32000

11fps burst shooting (8fps with silent shutter)

Interval shooting option added

4K/30p video capture

Mic input, no headphone output

410 shots per battery charge (per CIPA)

Wi-Fi with NFC and Bluetooth

The Sony a6400 officially replaces the older a6300: it uses the same sensor but comes with some subtle enhancements aside from the impressive autofocus capabilities. It arrives in an increasingly crowded field, though, with cameras like the X-T30 from Fujifilm and the EOS M50 from Canon being similarly priced and with similar sized sensors. Do the enhancements make the a6400 the standout in this crowd? Find out its strengths - and weaknesses - in the pages to follow.

The a6400 is available now for $899 (€1049) body-only, $999 (€1149) with a 16-50mm F3.5-5.6 Power Zoom kit lens and $1299 (€1449) with an 18-135mm F3.5-5.6 zoom.

What's new and how it compares

Sony's a6400 has an awful lot of refinements on the inside - take a look.

As a former A6000 owner who was ready to turn the page when the a6400 was announced, one look at the a6400 was enough to know that I was going to be leaving the Sony APS-C world altogether. All of the control and ergonomic shortcomings that made shooting with the a6000 a rather joyless task remain in the a6400.

lol.. as a a6400 user myself I think the opposite is true.Because of the af system there is no need for af joystick, because it just works.

it also has a bunch of custom buttons, you can even set a af on back button focus and have 7 custom memory banks.

I think avatar77 is just trolling when he claims this camera has ergonomic shortcomings.

you can even buy a cheap 50$ vertical grip either for 2 batteries or just as a grip extension without battery how I use it. With the grip the camera is just perfect to hold and not too big like the a7 or a9 series with vertical grip.

@avatar77 - I am glad you know which is good for you. Good luck with your switch!

FYI, your "ergonomic shortcomings" is not reflected by the brisk sales of Sony's cameras all over the world. In most places, the ergo issue is a non-issue. Sony's FS also shows they are doing way better than Canon in spite of the latter selling more cameras. That means that Sony is selling more expensive "ergonomically bad" cameras.

Speaking of Canon (and other cameras), why do people continually harp about Sony's ergonomics? The M6 is even worse as the m100 and older models. Even Fuji's XT-x0 series is not exactly a model of ergonomics! Even Oly's Pen cams have questionable ergos. But nobody throws the ergo complaints against them. It seems most people are just finding something to complain about. As for control, I find Oly's or Fuji's menu system confusing. So, this is a matter of training and just getting used to. If you program Sony's Mymenu, & buttons, you don't really use the menu anymore.

@chrissf: I can assure you I'm not trolling. I owned an a6000 for three years and found the handling and menu system tedious. The lack of a front dial, the too easy to adjust rear control wheel, the menu system - all downgrades from the (now obsolete) Nikon D90 I had come from. Now here we are a full half decade after the a6000's release and Sony releases... the same camera, again. Look, I get it, it sells well, it's popular with novice consumers who have never used a proper DSLR - but it wasn't for me. Ergonomics are largely subjective and it's great it works for you. But it was time for me to try something else.

@caterpillar - I never said the Sony ergonomics were bad, they're just not as good as the competition *for me*. Sales figures are irrelevant to any individuals ergonomic preferences.

@avatar77 - one's preference does not necessarily reflect most or majority's preference. As far as ergo's go, that is subjective. Even more telling is that the world has already voted and if Sony's ergonomics are really that bad, they would not sell as much. Again, their FS reflects that. So, in terms of popularity and market acceptance, your claim is not true.

In fact, it's just plain complaining and anti-sony. Now, you may have your dislikes and likes. Fine. But if one is to complain about Sony, then it shouldn't be just Sony. As I wrote earlier, other brands is as bad, and even worse. But few talk about bad ergonomics or menu system of Fuji or Olympus. So, this Sony bashing is more of a resentment that many feel (not necessarily you), that their favored brand is threatened and being beaten. A silly thing really, but many consider Sony a threat.

And rightly so. But it should be only from a firm's POV. As consumers, just buy whatever suits you.

Plenty of people here complaining that DPReview highlighted the mediocre ergonomics - but I completely agree. I wanted one more control dial. Yes often you don't need two, but whenever I did, and Sony didn't have a body that offered it, I got frustrated. Two Fuji bodies later I am very happy with my decision.

Not saying that should apply to everyone, but as a user who left the system, clearly there are legitimate ergonomic concerns for a large number of people, and Sony are pretty much the only manufacturer who don't offer a choice of body styles for either of their formats.

For all the complaints about usability, and lens availability, I did love travelling with the Nex-6.

16/12mm 2.8 + PZ + 35mm 1.8 was a great tiny travel kit.

I was incredibly excited about the A6000 when it arrived, but I don't have the money or inclination to buy FF primes for a compact APS-C kit, and honestly that lack of a front control dial killed it for me. 90% of the time the camera would get it right in aperture priority, but the 10% of the time when it didn't, or I wanted to do something creative with exposure comp and needed to menu-dive, left me feeling bitter and confused as to why Sony wouldn't just give it's users something so simple.

I'm guessing if you asked the right person at Sony they'd explain that the second dial mechanism would eat into the battery compartment, and they've kept costs down by recycling the same design since 2011... but still... back then I was ready to chuck cash at them for that dial...

If you already have a7iii, then I'd say just keep it. Full frame can offer your better dynamic range and more flexibility for post-editing. Besides, the real-time tracking will also be available on a7iii through firmware update soon. I don't see any reason to give up the a7iii and choose a6400. Personally, I won't pay $900 for just a little bit better JPEG quality.

"not so great JPG's"?You are probably doing something wrong. A7III is better than the 6400 in almost every way... If you're struggling getting good results with your A7III, post in the Sony forum. There are plenty there who would be happy to help you find what you're doing wrong.

I got the a6400 and I think it is a much more useful camera than a7 III

a6400 has cheap vertical grip which just makes the ergonomics perfect and not to big like a7 III with grip.

also a6400 has better af and a lot of custom settings. I use top custom button for auto iso minimum shutter speed, another custom button for af on back button focus and another custom button to toggle between different af settings.

the a6400 + meike grip + sony 28mm f2 is the perfect setup for photographing all kinds of stuff.. it is like a 40mm on fullframe.

+ get the 50mm oss f1.8 .. dont really need more than those two primes with kit lens

@SridarC - Yes, the A7-3 is still very viable. But if you intend to shoot real fast action sports, the a6400 will be a better choice. The firmware update will not improve tracking that much in the A7-3. It's just adding animal eye-focus and the no more need to press the AF-On button and the shutter button can activate the eye-focus upon half-press. But tracking of fast subjects still goes with the a6400.

I believe DPR doesn't want to cripple new camera sales by coming out with an unfavorable review to quickly, hence the wait. As far as the EM1X, I think everyone pretty well knows its strengths and weaknesses now.

Actually, we're just really really busy, and aligning schedules to shoot real sporting events out of office hours is always a bit of a hurdle, and unfortunately, we have to keep covering new camera announcements which will push a review back. Rest assured, the final review is coming.

A lot, actually, but I think I'll stop short of listing out everyone on staff's daily tasks. Suffice it to say, we are all juggling different cameras, lenses, accessories and pieces of content related to them, and I promise that we're doing our best to be as speedy as we can while maintaining our significant emphasis on accuracy.

Also, prices generally move more freely on Europe than the US. Within, say, two months of hitting the shelves it's pretty common for cameras to drop below their MSRP in Europe but stay at MSRP in the US.

It also varies by company, Olympus has pretty much always enforced the heck out of MSRP in the US (even years after release, tho they do adjust them over time) whereas someone like Pana has at times let street prices settle where the may. Kinda bizarre, I guess each company's bean counters dictate their strategy.

"This is subject tracking. Initiating focus on a particular subject (or portion of a subject) and being able to recompose, freely, while the camera accurately maintains focus. It's an incredibly freeing way of shooting, allowing you to try more compositions without having to futz about with a joystick, touchpad AF, or a four way controller.

I test drove one for a week. Its a nice camera. About 95% of what I do doesn't benefit from the improved autofocus, and none of the cameras I've used recently had problems with missing shots anyway. The big let down for me is the darned off center EVF. I normally use my left eye and it makes the cameras mediocre interface even harder to use. Panasonic has a few similar cameras that I find just as bad (so it is not a "Sony" thing.

I switch to an X-T30. The interface is far from perfect (darned Q button!), but much nicer than the A6400, and much more of a joy to use. The jpegs are very much nicer, and the eye AF hasn't failed me yet (though like I said, I don't use it that often).

So I agree with most reviews. The A6400 is a great technology camera, but it is not as enjoyable to use as other cameras. The off set EVF makes it even worse for me (I won't even try the GX95 because I know I won't like it either).

this is an 100% subjective view. You generalize this view to everyone else. Beside an a6400 for video-work I use to own a X100F and a x-e3. Sorry, the Fuji-System is not any point more enjoyable. Of course the jpg-files are nice, but I shoot raw only. So the whole Fuji Q-menu is worthless. And the problem with left side view-finder belongs to you. I love it

@Scotty - I literally have never understood this point of view, and no one has been able to clearly articulate it...

If you are left-eye dominant, why is it better to have a centered viewfinder that is even further right? Doesn't that just mash your face directly into your right hand that's gripping the camera and pressing controls?

At least with the left-side "rangefinder style" EVF, your face is biased a bit to the left, so it's not quite so disruptive, even for left-eye users.

The only argument that I've heard make sense for centered EVFs is with respect to muscle memory for people who are used to tracking distant animals with a spotting scope or a rifle, so having your eye on the optical axis is an intuitive requirement.

But none of the ergonomic arguments for centered EVFs make a lick of sense to me. Maybe you can explain better?

With a central viewfinder my nose is to the right of the touchscreen and doesnt interfere with it. Some controls are still a bit awkward but as I have to shoot left-eyed that's something I have to accept.

With a left-corner viewfinder, my nose is against the touchscreen so I have to disable it. That isn't an issue with cameras equipped with an AF joystick, but if a camera is touchscreen-reliant for AF, it is a major problem (less so, with the advent of object recognition as per a6400 and a9). The other controls are easier to access with my thumb.

You are correct about muscle memory and the fact that tracking a subject visually with a central on-lens-axis viewfinder is much more intuitive. For the same reason, a tilting on-lens-axis Sony-Nikon type screen is much better than the fully articulated Canon-Panasonic type.

Given the choice, I'd always go for a central viewfinder and a tilting screen. I think Fujifilm have the best solution, combining central EVF, tilting touchscreen and an AF joystick.

How does that corner EVF work for right-eye dominant people? I can see it being fine with a smaller, lighter lens, but with a 70-200 or 100-400, aren't you having to reach quite a long way to the right (with your left hand) to support the lens? I've never used a camera with that VF configuration, but it looks a little uncomfortable.

@Slideshow Bob - as a right-eye shooter with a RF-style camera, it's absolutely wonderful. Your nose is out past the side of the camera so it's not in the way, and for heavy lenses it's very easy to cradle the lens with your left elbow braced against your abdomen to create a stable tripod configuration with your face and right hand grip. And your right hand has a lot more room to adjust controls, even on a compact body.

Honestly, it's ergonomically exceptional, and I'm very convinced that most people dislike it simply because it wasn't possible with 35mm SLRs that most photographers grew up shooting with (and which all current DSLRs were patterned after).

I'm left eyed too and the corner viewfinder is better than center. And if you're using touch pad, the center is much more problematic as you end up with a finger in your right eye to move the af point around. Add glasses to the mix and it's just a no go.

Tell me, after following your instructions to have my perfectly average nose given plastic surgery, would you also like me to have my one remaining (left) eye removed, and just hope that the camera was clever enough to compose the photographs for me??

PAntunes - Yes I would imagine that with a tiny camera such as the Sony a6400, it would be quite easy to poke yourself in the eye with your thumb. This is one of the reasons why I prefer a larger camera.

Androole - Agreed. Unfortunately, using a side-swivelling touchscreen to select an AF point position is virtually impossible if you are hand-holding a camera with a longish or heavy lens, because you have to remove your left hand from its position supporting the lens.

... and of course, if the camera happens to be a DSLR and you're in live-view, you have to also take your eye away from the viewfinder to see where the AF point is located.

Personally I only use touchscreens for menu navigation or for playback. I find AF joysticks a much better solution, regardless of whether the camera is DSLR or mirrorlress. YMMV of course.

I actually do have a largish nose and just held the Sony up to my left eye with my glasses on. I can read everything in the viewfinder without my nose even touching the screen. So maybe your eyes are fairly recessed or something.

The EVF is only about 1 inch off center and it never occurred to me this is mattered. When shooting in portrait mode, I think all viewfinders are offset.

There are plenty of other cameras to choose from but this left eyed shooter likes corner viewfinders more than center ones. Although I can use both just fine.

@Scotty Piper - 95%, but most likely 95-98% of users will benefit from Sony's AF and eye-focus. Landscape or architectural, or some type of photography may not even need this. But there are more which will:- potraits- wedding/events- sports/action- birders- wildlife- street- etc.

Besides this, the a6400 has no serious 4k caveats or 30min video limit, longer batt life, no overeating, etc. etc. This tech alone is not easily copied by others at this time. They are probably at least 2 years behind this tech. And it is not h/w that drives it, but software.

As for being left type EVF, well, that is lame complaint. Other cameras are basically the same. Plus, having the EVF in the center does not necessarily solve your problem. Your nose is still going to touch the rear LCD. AFAIK, there's no camera that has the EVF to the right. So, you are complaining about something that is true for all. You'd best to just learn how to shoot w/ EVF to the left.

I much prefer an off center EVF and I don't see any point in having those huge dials dedicated solely to one operation. It's so much waste of space. These are not film camera. They are modern digital cameras and don't benefit from such dedicated dials.

RAW files don't have colors, they are strictly ones and zeros. The color rendering depends on how the camera JPEG engine or RAW editor chooses to interpret the RAW data. With the camera JPEGs and, even more so the RAW editor, the resulting colors are adjustable to a great degree.

Hence my question about the ACR profiles and if they will be updated to match the JPEG rendering.

That said, a certain sensor with its CFA design and in camera processing of RAW files (color balance in the RAW files) can have a big impact on colors in your converter as well. So it's not just the profiles per se.

It´s absurd that Sony did this! It´s inadmissible that DP Review did that! That other camera is way better for sure. I don´t understand why people would buy this. This camera should have that feature that every camera should have. Done, all the comments summed up even before they are posted. You´re welcome.

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